Indie Game Showcase: Book Bound

It seems that one of the most over-bloated genres in single-player games is the business simulator. If you go on Steam right now, you will find no shortage of games in this genre, and a large portion of them seem to be cut from the same hyper-realistic cloth. It takes a lot to rise up and stand out separate and above the west which is exactly what Book Bound has done.

In Book Bound you take control of a bookstore. You buy books wholesale, stock them on the shelves, and try to get customers into your store to buy them. It's a pretty simple and satisfying gameplay loop with a gorgeous pixel art style that will hook players in pretty quickly. In addition to buying books, you can enhance your store by expanding its size, investing in features like self-checkout or a Roomba, upgrading your bookshelves, and decorating the store.

Outside the store there are a few NPCs who you can interact that will take you through the story of their lives. You can also walk around the area to attract customers by talking to them directly or using a megaphone to attract up to four at once with a minigame.

There are a few things that players may bump into when they play the game which may be fixed in later updates if there are any. The narratives with the NPCs don't amount to much, and it feels more like watching a movie than an interactive experience. There aren't divergent dialogue options, there isn't anything major gained for finishing the story besides the achievement, and they feel mostly like a garnish. It would be nice if there was like a special item you got to decorate your shop when you completed them.

The actual mechanics of shopping are a little simplistic too, which isn't necessarily the worst thing for a cozy game, but may leave some players wanting more. The most important metric in the game is how many of each of the books you sell so (maybe I just didn't see it) there isn't a way to see the profit margin of each book because that's not as important except when it comes to buying upgrades. There's also a smiley face that appears over customer's head as they either buy or don't buy something to indicate satisfaction but there isn't a system in the game where that's useful. Like if there was a word of mouth system where higher satisfaction got more people in the store, that would make sense.

The only other thing people may not like is the size of the world outside the book store. It's pretty small and outside the five recurring NPCs is entirely populated by randomized people walking. If the store is not open, you cannot interact with the other random NPCs which feels a little strange. Similarly, the entire world consists of a park across the street and a stretch of street about three houses long. There is a cafe and what appears to be a diner on that stretch of road but neither can be entered. Again, maybe these will be added in future updates but right now it's a little bare bones.

I know it sounds like I'm being hard on the game, but I did really enjoy my time with it. As a cozy business simulator, it plays well and has a really endearing style. When I started playing it, I ended up committing to about four hours in the first sitting (which took me until about 3 in the morning) and then lost another few hours playing in subsequent days. At $6.99, this is definitely a must-buy.

★★★★

Book Bound
Developed by: Bit66
Release Date: March 6th, 2025
Platform: PC (Steam)